Foresight
by fbi-woman
Summary: An accident turns life upside down and gives new perspective. Abby/Buck
1. Chapter 1

Title: Foresight

Author: fbi_woman

Rating: T

Type: 9-1-1, Abby/Buck, angst

Spoilers: None, set at some point after she returns from Ireland.

Disclaimer: I don't own 9-1-1 or any of its characters or anything associated with it, not affiliated with Fox, etc etc.

Summary: An accident turns life upside down and gives new perspective.

A/N: This is WAY out of my comfort zone from a storyline perspective, and I have no idea what you guys are going to think of it, and there's probably going to be some cliché/corny stuff, but hopefully you'll stick it out with me.

* * *

Deep down Abby had known there was a strong possibility she would get a call like this someday; she just hadn't wanted to let herself think about it, and she certainly hadn't thought it would happen any time soon. Even now, she wasn't sure that she was actually thinking about what it meant, she was just sitting there in a weird state of dazed disbelief. Time seemed to be standing still and everything had gone quiet. Maybe she was dreaming. Was she dreaming? She must be, because nothing about this felt real. It was just a bad dream; she just needed to wake herself up somehow.

A gentle hand touched her shoulder and like the flip of a switch, she suddenly became acutely aware of everything happening around her. She was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall, cell phone in her hand. Looking over, she saw her co-worker, Tracy, kneeling beside her and watching her with concern.

"Do you want me to give you a ride?" Tracy asked gently. "I don't think you should drive."

Glancing around, Abby noticed several people in the nearby call room casting worried looks her way, and with a sniffle, she realized she was crying. The weight of reality was starting to settle around her and she knew then that it wasn't a dream. It was very, very real.

"Abby? Do you want me to drive you?" Tracy asked again.

Nodding blankly, Abby let her colleague help her up off the floor and lead her to the car. As she stared out the window, watching the city pass by, she kept replaying the whole scene in her mind.

 _Abby was in the middle of a 911 call when out of the corner of her eye, she saw her personal phone's screen light up. At first she didn't think anything of it; it was probably Buck, she would just call him back on her break. But as her call progressed, she couldn't help but notice a list of missed calls and messages starting to pile up on her cell and she could feel her anxiety rising. There was clearly something wrong, and someone was trying to get a hold of her urgently. Once the police arrived and the caller hung up, Abby grabbed her cell and dashed out the door. When she looked at the screen and saw most of the calls were from Captain Nash, she stopped dead in her tracks and felt a cold rush of dread wash over her. She knew from a slew of previous calls that there was a major fire happening at an apartment complex this afternoon, and with a heart wrenching jolt of fear, she understood that Bobby's calling her right now could only mean one thing: something had happened to Buck._

 _She was about to call him back when his name popped up again as an incoming call._

" _Hello?"_

" _Abby, it's Captain Nash."_

" _Is he okay?"_

 _There was a pause, and he sighed. "I don't know."_

 _Tears began to spill down her face and she stumbled backwards until she was leaning against the wall for support._

" _What do you mean, you don't know?" she cried. "What happened?"_

" _You probably heard, but there was a huge fire at an apartment building. We were trying to help evacuate some people trapped inside… the floor gave out under him and he fell a couple floors, and before we could get to him, the floor above started to collapse as well. It's hard to know exactly what happened, but when dug him out, his helmet was severely damaged, so I think a beam or something must have landed on him. He's alive but he's unconscious. We don't know how bad the damage is. I'm at the hospital right now and they took him to run brain scans, but I haven't heard anything yet. Waiting on the doctor."_

 _She slid slowly down the wall until she was essentially sitting in a fetal position, crying silently._

" _Abby? Are you there?"_

 _She tried to speak but all that came out was a strangled sob._

" _We're going to get through this. He's in good hands, and we should know more soon. You know how stubborn he is, he's not going to give up without a fight."_

" _I… I'm coming to… to the hospital," she stammered through her tears._

" _Okay. I'll be waiting."_

 _She ended the call, but then she just stared down at her phone. She knew she needed to get up and get down there, but it was like her mind couldn't process that message. She was simultaneously overwhelmed and numb in a way that seemed to just shut down her body altogether. It felt like she was in limbo, where it appeared that nothing was happening and yet everything was falling apart. Maybe she was dreaming…_

Tracy dropped her off at Emergency, and with a quick thank you, she rushed through the doors and almost collided with Bobby, who had obviously seen her coming.

"Where is he? Did they say anything?" she asked frantically.

"They said the doctor would be here to give me an update any minute now, you haven't missed anything."

"Captain Nash?"

They both turned to see a doctor looking their way expectantly.

"See? Perfect timing."

Abby followed Bobby over to the man, her heart pounding wildly. As much as she wanted to know what the doctor would say, she was also terrified of what she might hear.

"Captain Nash, I'm Dr. Patel. You're here for Evan Buckley, correct?"

"Yes," he confirmed, shaking the doctor's hand, "and this is Abby, his girlfriend."

The doctor smiled sympathetically and shook her hand as well. She tried to force a smile back, but she wasn't sure it worked.

"How is he?" she said nervously.

"Well, he's a lucky man, that's for sure. That helmet saved his life, and he only sustained a broken arm and collarbone from the fall. The scans aren't showing any bleeding of the brain, which is good, but he does have cerebral edema. He has suffered a traumatic head injury, so it's not unexpected to have swelling of the brain, but it is something we'll have to keep a close eye on. We have him on a respirator and he's getting medication to help reduce the swelling, but if the intracranial pressure doesn't decrease, we may have to remove part of the skull to relieve the pressure. At this point in time, I'm not anticipating that we'll need to take that route, but it is a possibility."

For a minute, she thought she might be sick. This morning he was laughing while she teased him about his stereotypical avocado toast, and now a stranger was telling her they might have to take part of his skull out. How the hell did that happen so fast?

"Is he awake?" Bobby asked, "Can we see him?"

"You can see him, but he's in a coma. It's not that uncommon for a coma to follow a traumatic brain injury, it's likely a result of the swelling and increased pressure."

Abby's heart fluttered. "But he will wake up, right?"

"He should, yes. It's impossible to predict when, though. It could be a few hours, a few days, or a few weeks."

He _should?!_ That was not the level of reassurance she had been seeking. Bobby asked something else and thanked the doctor, but she barely heard the exchange through the haze of panic and heartache. Ever since Bobby called, she had been oscillating between feeling like she was on the verge of a breakdown, and feeling oddly detached from her body. Right now she was experiencing the latter, mindlessly following Bobby through the halls without even knowing where they were going. He stopped at a nurse's station, and as she snapped back into awareness, she noticed a sign on the wall indicating that they were in the Intensive Care unit.

The nurse motioned to a room to the right, and Abby was there in a flash. She halted abruptly when she saw him, her breath catching in her chest. He was badly bruised, one side of his face swollen, and he was hooked up to so many things. She approached him cautiously, as if a sound or sudden movement would be catastrophic, and gingerly sat in the chair next to the bed. She was back to teetering on the edge of an emotional meltdown, and when she finally took his hand in hers, she shattered.

* * *

A/N: Don't worry, I promise there will be a happy ending, and I won't drag it out too long.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This was sort of inspired as a play on something that happened in Nashville. If you watch/watched that show, you'll probably know what I'm talking about. If you don't, it's not actually important lol so don't worry about it. You can probably guess where I'm going with this based on the second part of the chap.

* * *

Abby stayed at Buck's bedside for the rest of the day, and aside from a quick trip home to get changed, so did Bobby. Truth be told, Bobby was exhausted, but he wanted to be there if Buck woke up and he didn't want to leave Abby alone. He owed it to Buck to make sure she was okay. Hen and Karen, Chimney, and Athena all stopped by to check in and make coffee runs but while their concern and comfort bolstered him a little bit, nothing seemed to help Abby. He wished he knew who to call to come support her, but only Buck would know that. He remembered hearing about a brother, but didn't know his name or have any idea where to start looking for him. Maybe Athena could pull some strings and help with that. Or maybe he should just mind his own business, since he didn't really know what their relationship was like. He wasn't sure which route to go.

"Excuse me."

A voice interrupted his thoughts, and he turned to see a sympathetic looking nurse standing in the doorway. "Yes?"

"I'm afraid visiting hours are over."

"What? No, I'm not leaving," Abby protested.

"I'm sorry. If it were up to me, I'd let you stay, but I can't: it's hospital policy."

Tears sprang to her eyes. "But I want to be here when he wakes up!"

"I promise we'll call you both immediately if his condition changes."

"Come on Abby," Bobby said gently, "I'll take you home. You need to eat and get some rest. Buck will have my head if I don't make sure you're taking care of yourself."

A few tears were starting to spill over, but she nodded reluctantly. Leaning over, she softly kissed Buck's forehead and promised she would be back first thing in the morning.

They walked out of the hospital in silence, neither sure what to say, until they finally reached his car.

"I left my car at work, can you drop me off there?"

He eyed her skeptically. "You sure you're okay to drive?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Okay then," he agreed. But before he pulled out of the parking lot, he turned to look at her again. "He'll be okay."

She nodded again and forced a tight smile, but there was no mistaking the fear in her eyes.

* * *

Buck was confused. He was in an apartment, but it wasn't the one he shared with Abby, and he wasn't sure how he got here. The last thing he remembered was being at work. There were pictures of him and Abby scattered through the living room, so one or both of them must live here. There was a pillow and a blanket on the couch in the living room too, which was a bit strange. Did that mean he was sleeping on the couch tonight? Had he done something to make her mad? Where was she, anyways?

"Abby?" he called out. No answer.

He slowly made his way through the apartment, not sure where he was going or what he was looking for. He rounded a corner and paused when he heard a muffled voice coming from a room near the end of the hallway. It was her.

"Abby?" he called again. Still no answer.

What the hell was going on? He could hear her talking, so surely she heard him. He must have _really_ screwed up this time if she wasn't even speaking to him. But why didn't he remember doing anything? Everything was fine when he left this morning, he was sure of it. She had teased him during breakfast and kissed him goodbye at the door, and he didn't think he had talked to her since then, so how could he have upset her so much? Her voice grew louder as he moved further down the hall, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. She must be on the phone with someone, he figured. Why else would she be talking aloud in an empty apartment?

But when he reached the open door and peered inside, he saw that she wasn't alone at all: she was seated in a rocking chair, a blanket over her lap, and a tiny baby in her arms. What the actual fuck was happening here?

"Abby," he said again, but she didn't look up. "ABBY!" he shouted this time, but she still didn't react, and neither did the infant.

He was stunned, to say the least. Could they seriously not hear him? No way a baby could ignore a loud voice like that. Cautiously he entered the room, and spotted a mirror on one wall. Then, as he crossed directly in front of it, he was shocked to see that no reflection greeted him. It was as if he wasn't there at all.

A surge of panic rushed through him. How could this be happening? How could _any_ of this be happening? How was it possible that he completely missed Abby having a baby? A girl, if the pink walls and onesie were any indication. And was it his baby? The pictures around the apartment certainly didn't suggest she had moved on with someone else. But why couldn't they see him or hear him?

There was a knock at the door, and he numbly followed Abby and the baby as they went to answer it, brushing past him without even noticing. To his surprise and relief, it was Bobby on the other side of the door.

"Bobby! Thank God. You can hear me, right? What the hell is going on?"

But Bobby didn't even look in his direction. Instead, he addressed Abby and the baby.

"Hey, how is little Brianna doing today?"

Abby smiled. "She's good."

"And how's mom?"

"Tired. Somebody didn't want to sleep last night, and hasn't wanted to nap much today either."

"Why don't I watch her for a little while? Then you can get some rest."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah of course. I'm happy to spend some time with this little peanut," he said, tickling the baby's cheek.

"Thank you so much. Don't let me sleep too long though, okay? Wake me up if you need to get going."

"Okay."

"I'm serious," she said, giving him a pointed look. "You are not going to sit here all afternoon and let me sleep the day away like last time."

"I won't, I promise."

"Okay. There's a bottle in the fridge if she gets hungry."

"Got it. Come on Brianna," he took the baby in his arms, "you're going to visit with Uncle Bobby while your mommy gets some sleep."

"Thanks again," Abby said appreciatively.

"Any time."

Abby headed back down the hallway while Bobby made his way to the living room, settling down on the couch, and Buck just stood and watched in a daze of confusion.

"Hi sweet girl," Bobby murmured softly. "You know, you really need to let your mommy sleep at night, at least a little bit; it's a lot of work taking care of you by herself."

 _By herself?_ So then they weren't still together, and he wasn't even in the picture. He must have done something truly awful for her to cut him out altogether; she wasn't the kind of person who would keep their daughter away from him unless she honestly didn't trust him with the baby. Or what if he had walked away? It didn't feel like a possibility, but he didn't remember anything, so he supposed he couldn't rule it out. He couldn't imagine not wanting to be with her and their baby though. Either way, wouldn't it be awkward for Bobby to come around if things had ended badly? Nothing about this made any sense.

"You may have your mommy's hair, but you look just like your daddy. I know you're too young to understand what's happening, but all you need to know is that he loves you so much. Hopefully one day he'll be home with you. He's a good guy; you would love having him around. And your mom would too. She misses him a lot… so do I."

 _Well at least my daughter and I have something in common,_ Buck thought wryly; _neither one of us understands why I'm not really here._


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Somehow this is involving Bobby a lot more than I planned lol, not sure what that's about. Anyways, we're getting near the end! One chapter left. I promised I wouldn't drag it out.

* * *

Bobby sat quietly in the church pew. He wasn't sure how long he had been here or what he was waiting for; all he knew was that he felt as lost now as he did when he walked in, and that was unusual. He really didn't know what to do or how to handle this situation. He felt responsible for Buck, even though what happened was an accident. He also felt responsible for Abby on Buck's behalf. He tried to be there for her and get her out of that hospital room at least once a day, but she was obviously struggling and he couldn't seem to get through to her. He knew what it was like to feel like you're losing everything, and with her mom gone, he was sure she was feeling at least a bit of that right now. But she didn't want to open to him, and he couldn't blame her. After all, they didn't really know each other that well, and he was sure that he had heard far more about her than she had heard about him. She needed a shoulder to cry on though, and if it couldn't be him, he didn't know who else it could be.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he was startled when someone sat down beside him. Despite his sadness and worry, he couldn't help but smile when he saw it was Athena.

"Thought I might find you here."

He sighed. "Didn't know where else to go."

"How you holding up?"

"Okay, I guess."

"How's Abby doing?"

"Honestly? Not good. And I don't know what to do to help her. It's only been 4 days but she's going to run herself into the ground if she's not careful. She looks exhausted, but she won't go home during the day and I don't think she's sleeping much at night. I bring food, but she doesn't eat. She doesn't talk much, she doesn't even cry anymore. She just sits there all day. And she's gotten so pale. Her brother came down and spent the day with her yesterday, but I caught him on his way out and he said he was worried about her; thinks she's holding too much in, trying to be strong."

"What about friends? Sometimes it's easier to open up to friends than family. Has Buck ever mentioned any of her friends?"

Bobby shook his head. "No. I don't think she really has any close friends. Buck said she kind of withdrew from everyone when she was taking care of her mom."

"Wait… her mom…" Athena paused, looking thoughtful. "Didn't she have a nurse or something? I mean, I don't know if they were close, but she might be more comfortable accepting help and support from her since they've already gone through something traumatic together."

"That could work. How would I find her though?"

"You leave that to me."

* * *

Abby sat diligently at Buck's side, fighting to keep her eyes open. She tried to sleep when she went home at night, she really did, but she just couldn't do it. She was so worried that something would happen while she was asleep, that she would unintentionally wake herself up every half hour and check her phone in a panic. Buck's coworkers all tried to talk her into going home for a nap, but she didn't want to waste any of the hours she was allowed to be here. Matt had been the other day and tried the same routine, but she still refused. Her response was always that she could sleep when visiting hours were over, but the dark circles under her eyes were probably giving her away. Everyone who came typically brought snacks as well, but she couldn't bring herself to eat; she was so anxious that her stomach was either twisted in a knot or doing flips constantly. The doctors said he was doing fine, and they had been able to transition him from a full ventilator to just oxygen, but she could tell they were concerned that he hadn't woken up yet. She knew that the more time that went by, the greater the likelihood there would be permanent damage. She wanted to stay positive, but it was taking all her energy just to hold herself together.

"Knock, knock."

She spun around at the sound of the familiar voice.

"Carla?"

"Long time, no see. I heard your boy here was in an accident, thought I should come see how you're doing."

"I'm okay, I guess," Abby sighed. "As okay as I can be, anyways."

Carla gave her a knowing look. "Are you _really_ okay?"

Her lower lip trembled as she shook her head.

"Oh honey, come here."

Carla enveloped her in a tight hug, and Abby finally let her tears fall.

* * *

Buck trailed along as Abby carried Brianna through the doors to a building he didn't recognize. The sign said it was a long-term care facility, but he wasn't sure what that meant. Evidently no one could see or hear him here either, though he still didn't understand why. He wasn't sure what they were doing here yet, but it looked like a medical building, so maybe there were offices inside. The woman at the front desk clearly recognized Abby and the baby, so they must come here fairly often. He stood by as Abby signed some kind of guestbook before heading down a hallway on the left. Following behind, he looked in the windows of the doors as they passed and saw various patients lying in what looked similar to hospital rooms. Abby opened a door near the end on the right, and he tentatively entered the room with her. But what he saw inside seemed impossible.

He was looking at himself, lying in a bed and hooked up to several machines. It looked like he was asleep. How could this be? Was he dreaming? He must be. How else could he be looking at his own body from the outside? He watched Abby sit in the chair next to the bed, placing Brianna on her lap and taking his hand in hers.

"Hey Buck," she said softly, "I brought your little girl for a visit today. She wanted to see her daddy. I wish you could see her, she looks so much like you."

She paused, taking a deep breath, and he knew she was trying not to cry.

"You need to wake up soon so you can come home with us. I've been taking lots of pictures and videos for you; I don't want you to miss seeing any part of her life."

His heart ached as he watched her break down, dissolving into tears.

"I miss you so much," she choked out. "I wanted us to do this together. I'm so scared to do it alone."

Brianna sensed her mother's distress and began to cry.

Abby rocked her gently, sniffling as she tried to regain her composure. "Shh, it's okay baby girl, mommy's fine."

She wasn't fine at all, that much was obvious, and he hated that he couldn't wrap his arms around her and comfort her. He couldn't stand to see her hurting. He crossed the room and grabbed his own shoulders, trying to shake himself awake.

"Come on," he growled, "wake up! They need you!"

He blinked, and just like that, he was suddenly faced with a bright, white light.

* * *

A/N: Nah, I'm not crying… not at all…


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Last chapter! Thanks for sticking it out with me, I hope it wasn't too off the wall or cliché for you. I have some more fics in the works right now and some of them will be M, which doesn't show up on the default settings, so make sure you're following me as an author if you don't want to miss anything! Side note: I know this isn't really how coming out of a coma works, but this isn't a medical novel lol so I'm giving you the Hollywood version of a coma.

* * *

Buck squinted against the harsh luminosity, trying to make out his surroundings, but everything was so bright and white. He felt like he had been hit by a truck. A soft, steady beeping caught his attention, and that's when he realized he was hooked up to something. It sounded like a heart rate monitor, so he must be in the hospital. Suddenly he had some kind of flashback – he was looking at himself, lying in hospital style bed, while Abby sat beside him with a baby on her lap.

He gasped, feeling a surge of panic. "Abby?"

"Buck? Oh my God, you're awake!" She was instantly in tears. "I was so worried about you. Please don't ever scare me like that again! How do you feel? I should call the doctor."

"Slow down," he chuckled softly.

"I'm just so glad you're okay."

"Hey, where's the little peanut?" he asked, looking around.

"Who?"

"The baby… Brianna," he added at her blank expression.

"What baby?"

"Our baby."

"We don't have a baby," she laughed nervously.

"We don't?"

"No."

"But I just saw her."

"Buck, I have no idea what you're talking about. Let me get the doctor."

She ducked outside to the nurse's station, and he took a better look at the room. This wasn't the same room he had seen before; the walls were a different colour and the window was in a different place. This actually was a hospital room. But then… what the hell had he seen?

Abby returned and sat back down beside him. "They said the doctor should be here shortly."

"Where do we live?" he asked abruptly.

"In an apartment."

"I know, but which apartment? The one you had with your mom?"

She looked confused. "Yeah, why?"

Hmm, so the apartment he saw wasn't real either.

"So, what exactly happened then that I ended up in here?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"I'm not sure. I don't know if some things are actual memories or not."

"Well, we had breakfast together like always, and then you left for work. I went to work shortly after you, and in the middle of my shift I got a call from Captain Nash, saying you had been hurt in an accident. You guys were working on an apartment fire and the floors started to collapse and you had a pretty bad fall, and then they figure some large debris from the floor above must have landed on you. Your arm and your collarbone are broken, and you took pretty severe blow to the head. Your helmet saved your life."

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"This was the 6th day."

"That's it?"

Incredulous anger flashed in her eyes. "That's plenty!"

"I know, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just thought it was a _lot_ longer."

"What made you think that?"

"I'll tell you later," he said quickly, seeing a doctor and nurse approaching his room.

"Mr. Buckley," the doctor greeted him, "I'm Dr. Patel, it's good to see you awake!"

"It's good to be awake."

The doctor turned to Abby. "Ms. Clark, would you mind stepping out for a minute so we can examine Mr. Buckley?"

"Of course."

* * *

Abby waited for the doctor to leave the room and approached him quietly. She didn't want Buck to know how scared she still was.

"How is he?"

"He seems to be doing remarkably well. I'm going to send him for more scans so we can get an updated picture of what's going on with the brain, but his vitals are good, his reflexes are good, and his cognitive function appears good. We'll need to keep him for at least a couple more days, to make sure everything is fine. We also need to assess if there is any long term damage, and what kind of physiotherapy, if any, he might need."

"Okay. Um, before you came in, he was asking me some weird things," she said nervously.

"What kind of things?"

"He asked where we lived, and he… he thought we had a child together."

"It's not unusual for coma patients to be a little confused or disoriented when they first wake up."

"He said he _saw_ a baby though."

"There's plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that some coma patients may be capable of dreaming, he might just be unsure of what was a dream and what was real. Let me know if this kind of thing continues, but for now I wouldn't be terribly worried about it.

Abby blew out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. "Okay, that's good to hear. Thank you."

She made her way back inside, and couldn't help the huge smile that came over her face when Buck looked at her. She had wondered if she would ever see those blue eyes again, and grateful was an understatement for how blessed she felt that he was awake.

"So," he started, "have I missed anything exciting in the past few days?"

"I'm the wrong person to ask, I haven't seen the world in 6 days either."

"You've been here the whole time?"

Suddenly she felt a little shy about it. "Yeah… I mean, they made me go home at night, but I've been here during the day."

"You were really worried about me, huh?"

"Yeah, I was… I still am," she admitted.

He squeezed her hand in spite of the pain it caused him. "I'm going to be fine. You're not getting rid of me any time soon: I love you way too much to let that happen."

She knew she probably shouldn't say anything – she didn't want to make him self-conscious about it – but curiosity was getting the better of her.

"Sounds like I sure missed a lot in the last few days." When he looked at her quizzically, she laughed and clarified: "I had a baby, you said?"

" _Ohh_ , that. Sorry about that. I guess it was just a dream or something. It looked so real though, I could have sworn I really saw it."

"What exactly did you see?"

"First you had her at some apartment, but it wasn't the one we have now. And I could see and hear you, but you couldn't see or hear me. Then Bobby came, and he said something about you having to raise the baby alone, which I didn't understand. Then after that, I saw you and her going into some building that looked kind of like a hospital, but it wasn't. The weirdest part though was that I was _there_. Like, not only was I there seeing it, but I saw _myself_ lying in one of the beds. And you were crying. I don't remember what you said, I just remember getting really mad and trying to shake myself awake. The next thing I remember is waking up here. That's why I thought I'd been out for a long time and why I thought you would have a baby with you; I thought I was still in that room and I had woken myself up."

"Wow." She didn't know what else to say to that.

"Yeah, it was pretty confusing. I'm sorry if I freaked you out."

"I was just afraid it meant something was wrong. But the doctor said it's nothing to worry about and that you're doing well. That's all that matters."

He took a good, hard look at her, and she already knew what he was going to say before he opened his mouth.

"You look tired, Abbs. Why don't you go home for a bit? Have a nap."

She shook her head. "You just woke up; I'd rather stay with you. I can sleep later."

"The doctor has all kinds of tests and specialists lined up for me this afternoon, so I doubt we'll get much time together anyways. I don't want you getting sick because you were too busy worrying about me to look after yourself."

"But –"

"Please? For me?"

 _Dammit_. He didn't pull out that line very often, but they both knew it always worked when he did.

She sighed. "Fine, I'll try. But I'm coming back for dinner. And they better call me if anything happens."

"I'm sure they would, but I'll make sure they know."

She stalled for as long as she could but when the nurse came to take Buck for his first scan, she knew her time was up.

"See you at dinner," he said with a wink.

Abby did as she promised and went home, crawled into bed, and tried to fall asleep, but she couldn't. She was still half expecting her phone to ring, that it was too good to be true that he was going to be fine. But aside from that, she kept thinking about Buck's dreams… if that's what they were. Maybe subconsciously he wanted to have a child? But then why would he dream that he was still in a coma and couldn't be with the baby? Maybe an unconscious fear of abandonment? Or maybe she was _way_ overthinking this, and there just wasn't a straightforward psychological explanation for coma visions.

She had to admit; deep down she did like picturing the two of them with a little girl. Of course, in her fantasy, he was awake. She took a deep breath. It was still painful to think about the past few days of wondering what would happen if he didn't wake up. She shot straight up in bed the second the phrase clicked in her mind: _what if he didn't wake up?_ Her heart was racing. _Holy shit. What if that was it?_ _No… no that's crazy, I'm being ridiculous. Come on now, a psychic vision? I don't even believe in that stuff. He's right: I really do need some sleep._ She laid back down and closed her eyes, but she still couldn't shake the idea from her mind. Admitting defeat, she got up and threw her clothes back on. There was one surefire way to prove to herself that the whole notion was nonsense.

* * *

Buck wasn't surprised when Abby showed up at the hospital shortly before 4pm. He knew all along she wouldn't hold out until dinnertime. She was a worrier and caretaker; it wasn't in her nature to take time for herself unless she was confident that everyone else was okay without her. As much as he loved that about her, he knew she would run herself ragged if he didn't push her to at least try and relax a bit.

"Back so soon?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

"You're shocked, I know."

"Did you get _any_ sleep?" She looked just as tired as before and was wearing the same clothes, so he suspected not.

She offered him a weak smile. "I tried."

He shifted to the side and patted the space beside him on the bed. "Come lay down with me then. We can have a nap together."

"Won't we get in trouble?"

"Maybe, but so what? What are they going to do, ground me?"

"Why do I get the feeling you've used that line before, talking girls into breaking the rules?"

"Just get over here."

She hesitated for a minute, but slowly kicked off her shoes and climbed in beside him, being careful not to jostle him too much.

"I'm not made of glass, you know."

"I know, but your collarbone is broken, I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't. Besides, I feel much better having you next to me."

She turned on her side and took his good hand in hers, and he closed his eyes to sleep.

He couldn't sleep though. After a few minutes, it became to clear to him that something was on her mind. Her whole body was tense, and he could almost feel the stress coming off of her.

He softly kissed the top of her head. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"You've got _something_ on your mind. Spit it out."

"I couldn't sleep before because I kept thinking about the things you saw. Do you think they were just dreams?"

"What else would they be?"

She sighed. "I don't know."

"You're worried it's like a premonition or something? That something else is going to happen?"

"Not exactly… I started thinking about what would have happened if you hadn't woken up, and then I started wondering if maybe that's what you saw, which I know is completely insane and _so_ not me. But I couldn't let it go, and I figured there was only one way to prove that I was off my rocker."

He wasn't following. "So what did you do?"

"I took a pregnancy test… three of them, actually," she paused and bit her lip anxiously. "Buck, I'm pregnant."

It took a minute for her words to sink in, and then he was over the moon. He hadn't realized how badly he wanted that with her until he thought he was watching it happen without him. But now it was really happening, and he was actually here for it. He looked over and saw her watching him nervously.

"Well if that's not worth waking up for, I don't know what is," he said, breaking into a huge smile.

Relief washed over her face. "So you're happy then? I know it's not something we talked about, and I know it's kind of sudden –"

"Abby," he cut her off, "happy doesn't even begin to describe it."

She smiled and leaned over to kiss him.

"I told you we had a little girl," he added with a wink.

"You don't know that yet, it could be a boy."

"Nah, I know. That's Brianna in there," he brushed his hand across her stomach, "and she is going to be daddy's little princess."

"Call me crazy, but I actually believe you."

"What can I say, the universe has mysterious powers."

She rolled her eyes. "Keep that up and I'm retracting my statement."

"Okay, okay," he chuckled. "Now that you've got that off your chest, think you're ready to get some sleep? We have to keep you healthy for our little girl."

"Yeah, I think I am," she said, stifling a yawn.

"Good."

He felt her relax beside him and her breathing start to even out.

"Hey Abbs?"

"Yeah?" she mumbled sleepily.

"I love you."

"I love you too."


End file.
